Before, During, and After
by Birdyyy
Summary: They said that the war had been both terrible and wonderful. For Nico, it was more wonderful than terrible. A look into Nico's life before, during, and after the war.


**Author's Notes: This is basically about how the war affected Nico, sort of a look into his life before and after the war in the way he was treated. Split into three parts, for before the war, during the war, and after the war. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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Before the War

Before the war, he'd been the outcast. "The oddball," the kids at school had called him. The weird dark haired kid who'd lost his parents and only had his sister for family and friend. The kid that everyone avoided because of the fact that he couldn't remember any of his past.

For his whole life, he'd been stared at and shunned for something he never truly understood.

People would part around him wherever he went, staying away because of the constant death aura that was always surrounding him.

His sister was also avoided. She understood her little brother, and when he cried at night, she'd hold him tightly and tell him that it was okay, since they had each other.

Bianca had been the one he loved the most in the world, which was easy to say, as he had no one else.

Then she joined the hunters, and his entire world crashed. No longer was she the sister he looked up to, but the one he despised. How could she, his only family, just leave him? Leave him after so many years after caring for him. He thought that she truly cared for him. And he believed that he was the one person that mattered the most to her. As far as he was concerned, he didn't have anyone now.

So then he boarded Apollo's bus and flew to Camp Half-Blood, after spending a night with the hunters. The place where he hoped he would finally make a few friends.

He was disappointed.

Even at Camp, he was avoided, campers pretended not to notice him. Not many volunteered to hang around at camp with him. The other kids in the Hermes cabin tried to help him fit in, by teaching him how to steal and prank others. Only Thalia and Percy really made him feel like he was liked, even though they were still grieving the loss of their friend. They were the few that understood what it was like to be different.

Nico didn't believe in karma. His entire life, bullies picked on him in school, and nothing ever happened to them. "What goes around, comes around," never motivated him. So when his father never claimed him, he wasn't surprised.

So he lusted after glory and battle, hoping that if he did something courageous, he could make his real father proud, so he would be claimed.

He often wondered, if there was something he was doing that made everyone feel so awkward around him. He wondered why he couldn't make friends.

And while Thalia and Percy tried to help him, the Stoll brothers attempted to make money off of him by playing Poker with him. They lost. Badly. The brothers never got mad at anyone, they just played more pranks on their victims. Nico wasn't one to let a thing like a prank go, so he started a pulled a trick on the Travis and Connor. And it then turned into a prank war.

So he had two more friends. Their relationship mostly consisted of insulting and humiliating each other, but they were friends. And that meant a lot to him.

And then _she_ died. His big sister, the one who he still loved and looked up to, the one that listened when he spent hours droning on and on about Mythomagic, the one that had abandoned him, for the life of hunting beasts, camping in the wilderness, and hating boys was dead. Dead. Gone. Forever. And he couldn't do anything about it.

He didn't know what to do. Then the answer came to him, clear as day, when Percy tried to comfort him. He couldn't stand it anymore, now he was the kid with nothing at all, he didn't even have a sister anymore. So he ran away. He didn't need any belongings. He planned to raise Bianca from the dead.

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During the War

The second time he went back to camp was during the war. Campers no longer had time to choose who they wished to work with. Forced to work with others, they still avoided him, pretending not to notice him, chattering away with their own friends and cabinmates. Occasionally, a kid would exchange a few words with him while sharpening his sword.

Maybe he believed in karma a little now.

Once again, he was left alone, content to simply listen to their jabbering. Yes, he still minded that he was often alone. He dreamed about battles and all the glory he would have if he won it for them. He would have more friends. But for now, it was enough. For now he knew who he was. He knew his true identity.

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After the War

The House of Hades became the saviors of the day. And Nico finally got his glory.

It was also the day Nico's life took a turn for the better, after his father and he showed up with an army of undead warriors.

He realized this, right after the war ended, when people embraced each other, crying over the dead, congratulating each other for making it through. He hadn't been singled out, he hadn't been standing alone in the corner, feeling awkward, they'd come to hug him as well.

He was still the kid with the death aura, but people no longer avoided him around camp. They'd included him.

All of them could find something to bond about. They had all lost friends and family in this war. And this was when he reflected about his hopes of winning battles and bringing honor to his house.

It wasn't because of glory that he had been claimed. It was because of his actions. He had done what was right.

And now he had friends.

It was different. It had changed him. And he loved it. He had people who he could trust. People no longer stereotyped him. They no longer referred to him as, '_that_ son of Hades'.

For Nico, the war was more wonderful than terrible.

It had made him realize the truth about the way the world worked.

Perhaps karma did work a bit in his life.

For the first time, he had true friends, he was happy, and he knew who he was.

And that was pretty much all that mattered.

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**Author's Notes: Okay, hoped you liked it. If you flame me, it'll make me smile. If you give it praise, it'll make me smile, brighten my day, and I'll even throw in a virtual cookie for you. If you give me CC, it'll make me smile, brighten my day, and I'll give you a box of virtual cookies. If you send me a review with a flame, a praise, and CC, I'll be dumbfounded for a few moments, and it'll make me smile, brighten my day, and I'll send you a box of virtual cookies and a virtual piekie that Po Tah Toe will make. Right Po Tah Toe?**


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